A senior United Nations spokesperson says that Yemen’s Houthis seized a humanitarian facility in Mocha, Al Jazeera reported, citing Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general, as saying.

Haq said in a news briefing on Friday that the site housed staff from UN agencies, but all personnel were safe and had already departed.

No UN employees remain in Mocha, Haq added, after eight Yemeni staff members who were in the area relocated from Mocha to nearby Aden, Turbah and Taiz before the Iran-allied group’s swift battlefield advance.

“Humanitarian personnel, premises and assets must be respected and protected at all times,” he said.